Chapter 109: Save the Slave's Former Master
Shen Zhi understood and said, "Bring her younger brother out as well."
The woman opened her eyes wide and stared at Shen Zhi.
Manager Yang sent someone to bring the girl's younger brother. What a child he was. He was about five or six years old, skinny, with a sallow face, and his eyes were closed listlessly.
Shen Zhi stepped forward and felt his pulse, which turned out to be a bit tricky. It was poisoning, and it had accumulated over many years.
The woman saw Shen Zhi taking the pulse skillfully and asked in surprise, "How is my brother?"
"Poisoning and detoxification is a long process. It will take at least three to five years." Shen Zhi said.
When the girl heard that it was poisoning, she seemed to think of something in her mind and a hint of hatred flashed in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it.
The woman knelt down in front of Shen Zhi and kowtowed, begging: "Miss, I know martial arts and can protect you. Please save my brother."
Zhan Yurong, who was standing by, also had red eyes. She walked out, knelt beside the woman and said, "Please, young lady, save my old master. I am willing to work like a cow or a horse to repay you."
Wang Hu, his wife and children also knelt in front of Shen Zhi and said, "Please, young lady, save this servant/my old master."
Shen Zhi was moved. They were indeed a group of affectionate and righteous people. However, the woman was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and had lived a life of luxury since childhood. Could she humble herself and become a slave of a small peasant girl?
The woman seemed to see Shen Zhi's concerns and said hurriedly: "I am Meng Ting, a servant, willing to be a slave and be loyal to you for life. If I betray you, I will not die well."
Wang Hu's family also swore: "If the slaves/servants betray me, they will not die well."
Shen Zhi nodded, "Everyone get up."
Eunuch Cao had searched for a while and found a few more people. One of them was called Shi Yi, who used to be a restaurant manager. He was smart as a businessman, but also had a narrow mind. There were also two accountants, both of whom were experienced and had no major problems with their character. One was called Fang San and the other was called Zhuang Wu.
A total of 56 people were selected, including Ruhua, Wang Hu's family of four, Meng Ting's siblings, Shi Yi, Fang San, and Zhuang Wu. Most of them were strong men who would be sent to the manor in the future. The price for each person was different, and the total cost was 620 taels.
The shop and the staff cost a total of 1,370 taels. Shen Zhi gave 1,400 taels to Manager Yang and asked him to go to the yamen immediately to get the red deed done. Excluding the yamen's handling fee, the rest was Manager Yang's hard work fee.
Manager Yang was so happy that he really met the God of Wealth today. He met such a big master on the first day of opening the shop. He got a lot in commission alone, and the tip was at least ten taels of silver in his hands.
Taking advantage of the time when Manager Yang was at the government office, Shen Zhi went to Wangxian Building. Song Che had already found a decorator for her. Shen Zhi had already obtained the key to the shop from Manager Yang. She took the masters to the site and put forward her own decoration requirements. The masters were all skilled people and understood the boss's requirements as soon as they heard them. Shen Zhi signed a contract with them and paid a 30% deposit in advance, requiring the work to be completed within half a month.
In less than half an hour, Manager Yang returned with the shop and the red deeds of the fifty-five people. Shen Zhi specifically requested to keep Meng Ting's brother Meng Zirui's good name. The Meng family was only implicated, not a bad person, so at least there was hope for them.
Meng Ting was very grateful for this. The Meng family suffered a disaster. Her father was exiled to Lingnan with her uncle's family. Her mother was devastated and fell ill. She died soon after. Only she and her six-year-old brother were left. No matter what, she must protect her brother.
Manager Yang was grinning from ear to ear today. He personally escorted Shen Zhi out and said, "Miss Shen, if you want to buy land or people in the future, just come to Sifang Yahang. I guarantee you will get the best discount."
Shen Zhi nodded, and led a group of people out of Sifang Yahang. Shen Zhi took out fifty taels of silver and gave it to Wang Hu and his wife, asking them to go to the clothing store in town to buy two sets of clothes and shoes for each of these people. After buying, they went directly to West Street to find a bullock cart to take to the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain in Shitou Village. The two of them wrote down the sizes of everyone and left.
Shen Zhi gave Ruhua another hundred dollars and asked her to go to the bun shop on the corner to buy two hundred meat buns so that everyone could eat their fill and have enough energy to follow her carriage back to Shitou Village.
Ruhua was very quick, and in a cup of tea she came back with a basket of buns. The boss saw that she bought a lot, so he gave her one of his own bamboo baskets.
They devoured the food voraciously, finishing the two hundred buns in no time. Ruhua was still not satisfied. Everyone was grateful to the new master, who fed them as soon as they arrived and bought them new clothes. They secretly vowed to work hard.
After returning to Shitou Village, Shen was surprised that so many people were bought. She had been accustomed to being a village woman for so many years, and she was not used to having so many servants for her family.
"Mom, please go to the backyard and settle them down. If that doesn't work, make them sleep on the floor. We will take them to the farm tomorrow." Shen Zhi said.
"Okay," Shen quickly led everyone to the backyard to clean up.
Not long after, Wang Hu and his wife also came back.
Shen Zhi gathered everyone in the backyard, beat some drums, and then let them wash up and rest.
Shen Zhi returned to his room and carefully considered where these people should go.
She would arrange for Wang Hu and his wife to go to the manor, with Wang Hu as the head of the manor and Li helping to manage the servants. The head of the manor was still one of her own, and she could rest assured. The manor had changed hands several times, and who knew what kind of ghosts and monsters were in it. Even if the previous merchant wrote to the head of the manor and asked him to be loyal to the current owner, he could not be careless.
Fang San was the kind of person who looked quite serious, so Shen Zhi decided to let him work as an accountant on the farm. After all, this was a farm granted by the emperor, and they were going to experiment with planting potatoes on a large scale there in the spring.
There were also thirty-seven strong men, specially selected for their strong body and experience in farm work, and all of them were sent to the farm.
As for the photo studio that was about to open, Shi Yi would be assigned as the manager, Zhuang Wu as the accountant, Zhan Yurong and another woman Huahua would be responsible for the makeup and hair of the female guests. There was also a servant named Jiutan, who used to be his young master's personal servant and was good at combing hair. Shen Zhi arranged him to be responsible for the makeup and hair of the male guests. There were also four other people, Chunmei, Qiuye, Li Zheng, and Sun Guoan. Shen Zhi planned to teach them photography techniques, while Dongxue and Ma Teng would teach them post-production photo editing.
By keeping Wang Feng, Shen Zhi planned to train him into a modern sales manager, responsible for contacting clients and selling photography packages.
Chunhua is also responsible for cooking for them and keeping the entire photo studio clean.
Ruhua is the equivalent of a bodyguard, and she is the one who solves any trouble. Shen Zhi has observed Ruhua, and although she has strong limbs, she is not a simple-minded person, and she will not resort to force unless it is absolutely necessary.
Meng Ting and her brother will stay in the courtyard for the time being. It would be nice to be bodyguards.
After making all the arrangements, Shen Zhi entered the space. She would go to the farm tomorrow, and she would need farm tools for spring ploughing, especially modern farm tools that could improve production efficiency, so she had to prepare them in advance.